Discover Hangzhou
Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies
九溪烟树 / 九溪十八涧
A 5.5 km stream valley in the hills behind West Lake where a Y-shaped creek runs between tea terraces and woodland. After rain mist rises off the trees, which is where the name 'Misty Trees of Nine Creeks' comes from.
The story
What makes this place special
Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies is the wooded valley system in the hills south-west of West Lake, where a stream gathers from a series of side gullies and runs down to the Qiantang River. It has no monument - its significance is that it is the one piece of the West Lake World Heritage landscape that is genuinely wild, it was the traditional walking and summer-escape ground for Hangzhou people, and the path through it links the lake to the Longjing tea villages.
What you’ll discover
A stream-bed walk: a track following a small clear creek up a narrow wooded valley, crossing and recrossing the water on stepping stones and small bridges, with tea slopes appearing as you climb and the side gullies joining from either hand. At the top the path comes out among the tea terraces and continues into Longjing village. There are a few tea houses and farm restaurants along the way and almost nothing else.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Walk it uphill from the bottom and come out at Longjing village for tea and lunch, then take a bus or taxi back to the lake. Doing it downhill from the village is easier on the legs but ends with you at a road rather than at a village.
- This is the escape valve for West Lake. On a holiday weekend when the causeways are solid, an hour up this valley puts you in a near-empty wood ten minutes from the lake.
- Allow two to three hours for the walk and treat it as a half day with the tea villages. It is the best walking day in Hangzhou and is almost unknown to foreign visitors.
- Shoes that can get wet. The path crosses the stream repeatedly on stones, and after rain some crossings are ankle deep.
- The tea houses along the creek serve Longjing brewed with the local spring water, which is the traditional point of the walk, and they are cheaper than anything lakeside.
When to come
Late March to April, when the tea is being picked at the top of the valley, or autumn for leaf colour. Summer is the traditional season because the valley is cool and shaded, but the stream can be low. Avoid immediately after heavy rain, when the crossings are submerged.
Getting around
Not accessible. The valley is an unpaved stream-side track with stepping-stone crossings, tree roots, mud and a continuous climb, with no handrails, no alternative route and no vehicle access along most of it. A wheelchair cannot use it, and with a bad knee the repeated stream crossings and uneven footing are the problem rather than the gradient. The tea villages at the top, however, are reachable by road.
Worth knowing before you go
Walk downhill from the Longjing/Yangmeiling end to the Jiuxi bus terminus rather than uphill. Wear shoes you do not mind getting wet - the path crosses the stream on stepping stones many times.
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